The Placebo Effect
by Spuffy Freak
Summary: All Human. Buffy is sent to a boot camp for juvenile delinquents, but what she least expects is how this place will change her forever. Buffy/Faith pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**The Placebo Effect**

**Chapter I**

The heat was almost unbearable. Her tank top was clinging to her upper body, her jeans could almost pass for a second skin to her lower part, and the warm sweat against her skin not a feeling she was madly comfortable with.

She tried rearranging her top, pulling it a little off her chest, to see if some air could pass through, but to no avail. The wind was blowing weakly in that area.

Her backpack seemed heavier after having had it on her back for the last one and a half hour, making things worse for her already sore shoulders. Not to mention her legs, where she'd do anything just to be able to sit down for a while. And she wouldn't say no to a nice, cold bottle of water, with some nice, cold cubicles of ice, while getting inside an equally nice, cold swimming pool with nice, cold… and sitting. Sitting on the steps of a nice, cold swimming pool, surrounded by nice, cold cubicles of ice, while at the same time drinking a nice, cold cup of water with some nice, cold cubicles…

_Ugh, just cut the loony thoughts_. Running her hands through her humid blonde hair, Buffy let out a long, exhausted and frustrated sigh. Shifting her weight to her other leg, while placing her hands on her waist to support herself and try to straighten up, feeling the muscles on her back ache as soon as she did so, she sighed again.

She could sense an oncoming headache. Closing her eyes, she placed her hands over them, trying to shield the direct light of the hot noon-ish sun.

Just then Buffy heard the distinct sound of a car approaching and stopping shortly. Removing her hands, noticing that the small chatter that had been going on around her ceased, she looked toward where the sound had come from, localizing a blue vehicle. The silence was soon followed by hard steps on the ground of dirt beneath her feet, coming from the individual who had stepped out of the car. Accompanying the steps was a tall figure of a chubby yet muscular woman. The woman stopped a few feet in front of all those girls -apparently, Buffy's new "peers"-, with an almost disgusted look on her face. Actually, if that wasn't a disgusted look, she didn't know what else was.

The woman took a few seconds to glance distastefully at the girls surrounding her before she spoke,"I'm sure you all know why you're here and the _wonderful_ things you did to get here, and I'm sure you'd all be proud to share those _amazing _stories, but let's skip the shit talk and go directly to the point." No introductions or pleasantries, no beating-around-the-bush, crude language in the mix... Well, that was comforting. The woman spoke in a loud, husky and masculine voice, Buffy noted, while she flinched at the woman's tone and her obvious need to emphasize on the obviously-not-missed-upon-anyone sarcastic adjectives.

In all honesty, Buffy wasn't meant to be there. It was an injustice that shouldn't have been inflicted upon her. Or at least some other way of justice could have taken place other than this kind. She was supposed to be spending her summer vacation at home, with the still remaining friends she had, getting a new tan, and not in some 'Expert Correctional System for Juvenile Delinquents', Buffy scoffed angrily and bitterly at that name. She knew the truth, the fancy title was just hiding the alarming words "boot camp". She still couldn't believe her mother had signed the papers for her to be taken against her will to this freak show of a "camp". Albeit, she wasn't exactly taken against her will, she did herself pack her bags and got ready on her own terms. Okay, so mostly that had a lot to do with pride… And, she figured, if she'd be going one way or the other, she wouldn't act like an idiot enough as to not take what was necessary to survive. But, still, she felt betrayed, restless from the events of the past couple weeks and the last few months of that dreadful year, torn… and very sticky and sweaty.

One of the man who worked for this "system" had gone by her house a couple weeks prior the take off to her "temporary establishment to help her through her problems", to tell her all the basic rules. He had talked calmly, almost in a condescending manner -or Buffy could have imagined that because of the current anger that had overtaken her, making her see red, and red only-, about how her mother had signed a paper authorizing them to come by her house the day they'd take off and take her by force if she wouldn't go willingly and some other crap that Buffy hadn't been paying attention to. She had been too shocked and outraged at the moment by the news that her mother had chosen to keep from her, until, that is, a stranger had decided to show up at her doorstep and grace her with the wondrous news himself that she'd be spending her summer vacation with some fuck ups... or maybe some 'other' fuck ups, according to her mother. All the while she was glaring across the room at her mother in disbelief, who had been standing near the stairs with a sad almost ashamed look on her face, maybe there had even been some regret in her yes, but determined nonetheless not to go back on her decision, while avoiding her daughter's eyes.

Buffy had been staring at the ground when she was pulled back out of her thoughts by the husky voice of the uniformed woman that had stepped out of the car. "Now, I want you all to form two straight lines beside each other facing me. If, of course, that isn't too much to ask for," she said the last bit in an exaggeratedly way, spitting sarcasm. Buffy glanced at Sardonic Woman for a second, before moving to stand next to the other girls who were almost reluctant to obey any sort of disciplinary order as simple as they may be -probably due to their 'rebellious' phase thing they had going on for them-, but too intimidated by the woman to actually disobey the order.

After a while, they seemed to have all formed two long rows beside one another, all facing the tall woman who seemed very impatient for having had to wait for those two long minutes. Apparently, patience was not one of her virtues... if she still had any. Buffy had optioned to stand in the back of the line, even if she couldn't quite see the woman clearly because of all the other girls in front of her; she wasn't exactly keen on the idea of hauling any sort of unwanted attention towards her. And considering her luck, she didn't doubt that possibility.

"I assume you all know how we work here. But for those of you who haven't read our facility's pamphlet, and think this is just some fun, 'campy' vacation for you, well, I'm sorry to disappoint you" she smiled sarcastically, "but the last thing anyone will be doing around here is enjoying themselves." She hand-gestured quotation marks to 'campy', before taking her pose again. Buffy thought she oddly resembled that crazy, principal woman from the Matilda movie… Even her macho-like pose with her closed fists resting against her waist was similar; like she was ready to pick up one of them by the hair and throw them through the... well, there weren't exactly any flowers about for the picking of to complete the sequence...

Buffy frowned at the woman. It was visible to anyone with some decent common sense in them that the treatment they'd be receiving from there on would be of a similar nature to the one at the system's bus station, and would probably only be getting worse. Ah, the bus ride! The buses they all had taken were definitely going for a record of _worst_ bus trips on history.

Her mother had dropped her off at the system's bus station - she still felt it too over-the-top to call it a "facility", like they were dealing with a bunch of drugged freaks. They even hugged each other before leaving, the ever-so-motherly tears appearing on her mother's eyes. Buffy had refused to trade more than mere syllables with her mother the past couple weeks before her 'trip'. Yes, she held resentment against her mother and she had all the right to! Okay, maybe she didn't have all the right to do that… Truth be told, Buffy simply hated to admit that it hadn't been a complete neglectful act on her mother's part by sending her there. But, damn it all to hell, if she wasn't going to make her mom feel some sort for remorse for sending her one and only daughter to this godforsaken place! And, all be damned, she was a seventeen year old girl, for crying out loud, the 'no speaking thing' was part of the package that came with every teenage girl; that, and the 'storming off and hitting bedroom door'.

At the building where Buffy had taken the bus, the parents hadn't been allowed past the turnstiles to the other side around the small building as they got there, where the buses were located. In the pamphlet -yeah, Buffy had read… some of it- it said each girl was only allowed to take one backpack/shoulder bag/bag -as long as it was simply one of that, they didn't give two fucks what the girl brought her clothes with- for their clothing and vital necessities. Before entering the small building, she was guided to the main door by her mother, wherein some men even stood by thinking Joyce might've needed some "help" with Buffy to get her inside. Where they then took her name, and absently checked her bags for any 'dangerous' objects.

Nearing the other side of the building after saying good-bye to her mother, Buffy was taken aback by what she saw. Apparently, there were girls who did need the "help" of others to be taken inside the bus.

The sight before her had made Buffy glad she had gone in willingly. No wonder they didn't let the parents accompany their daughters to the bus... An uproar was ensuing near the buses. And that was when reality had hit Buffy fair and square.

Buffy hadn't actually gone as far as to deluding herself and thinking this place would've been an easy to go by, 'cause, after all, the shitty title of this facility did state precisely what they thought of them. She knew it was a sort of a "recovering" thing, with emphasis on 'readjusting the appropriate social behavior to fit back in society', and that it'd be at least somewhat strict and severe. But, damn, pamphlets could be so misleading! And if this was just the getting-to-it part, she could only imagine what was to come.

At the front of the buses there had been at least a dozen girls laid out on the ground, some using their bags as pillows, and some just sitting there, apparently having trained their 'bored' and 'I don't give a shit about anything' faces quite well. While most were scattered about, scurrying around like cockroaches with no specific place to go, shouting stuff to no one in particular, saying they wanted to 'fucking leave,' _Huh, don't we all_, the real mess seemed to be going on inside the buses. But what had really gotten Buffy's attention had been the two well-built "guards" taking care of a girl that hadn't seemed to be cooperating in the slightest with them. The girl had a blue and purple toned-hair, and was spitting all sorts of coarse language in their direction, while they were each holding one of her arms and trying to stay away from her kicking legs. Then, one of them probably thought that he had had enough after she got a kick right on his shin, and had twisted the girl's arm behind her back and with his body weight had pushed her chest-first to the ground, while forcing her to stay there. He then took out his handcuffs and very brusquely handcuffed both her wrists to her back. Getting up, while the other "guard" just stood by watching his partner with an amused look on his face –yes, amused!-, he roughly brought the girl up by her arm and shoved her toward the bus.

Buffy had witnessed all that with an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach. She had looked around to see if anyone had seen the way that man had treated the girl, the way he had manhandled her, like they were headed to some juvenile prison or something - that thought alone made Buffy light-headed. No, facility it was… right? Like that's a sea of comfort and any less distressing. But no one seemed to have been paying attention or even seemed to care. Even a middle-aged woman standing near one of the buses, who was probably a supervisor by the looks of her stodgy outfit and even stuffier demeanor, had ignored everything that occurred, pushing her glasses further up her nose and scribbling hastily on her clipboard.

At that moment, Buffy recalls, she had been filled by a feeling of rage, where she just wanted to approach those two cops and really beat them to a pulp... or at least get knocked down trying to. Didn't matter if she didn't know the girl, she just didn't like those guards' actions, and that was enough of a reason for her to act on impulse... Or at least that was enough of a reason for the old Buffy to step forward and do something about it, Buffy reprimanded herself. She realized that those thoughts and potential actions were exactly the blame for her being there in the first place. There could be no more of that violent and careless person she knew and had become the past few months; that person needed to be gone if she had any hope of 'passing' –if such thing was even required—this thing. She would have to start to learn to restrain herself. And with those thoughts, Buffy approached a brick wall and leaned against it, slowly drifting to the ground, and sat there.

At last Sardonic Woman had decided to stop with the yammering to breathe, before resuming talking about in an almost robotic tone, like she memorized the things she was saying. _I'll bet she did_. And, damn, Buffy had spaced out again. She really needed to stop doing that.

"… three different areas. Blue, red and yellow. After you've been assigned to your respective area once we get there, then there will be the sorting of the partnership. Understood?" Sardonic Woman said that last word almost daring anyone to actually make any questions. As if what she had said was perfectly clear to everyone present. Yeah, probably perfectly clear to anyone who wasn't Buffy and didn't have the attention span of a gnat. Buffy signed, looking around, brushing off completely the idea of asking anyone to perhaps give her a brief summary of what Sardonic Woman had said and especially of raising her hand and asking it herself. Sardonic Woman would probably take pleasure in humiliating her in public, crushing her like an insect. No, staying uninformative was the best option indeed.

Everyone started walking in the direction of the buses. So back to the bus it was! Backpacks or bags already in place, as they hadn't been allowed to neither sit on the ground nor take them off when they had first arrived, everyone walked unenthusiastically towards the vehicles. They'd been told to take their stuff with them out of the buses and once outside not to get 'too comfortable', that Whoeverthefuck, probably Sardonic Woman, would be arriving soon. Yeah, soon as in one and half fucking hour later.

Buffy followed her line, approaching that godforsaken bus. _Ugh, not that nasty bus again_, Buffy thought grudgingly.

Buffy was starting to feel very tired and hungry. Having declined her mother's offer to prepare her her 'last' breakfast before she left and being already lunch time, her stomach was starting to growl.

Entering the stinky bus and sitting by the window, Buffy absently looked out to the dirt that lay outside, resting her head against the window. A robust-looking girl sat beside her, spreading her legs wide while hitting one of her knees to Buffy's. Buffy glanced at her, not wanting to seem bothered by that, she quietly scooted a little more to her side, making it appear as if she had done that simply to get more comfortable, and not to get away from awkward long minutes, possibly hours, of touchy-of-knees drives. But her movement only made the girl spread her legs even wider, making her look like quite the lady. Buffy took a deep breath, and decided the best option was to ignore the girl. She knew she wouldn't be getting anything rewarding out of giving her a reaction. _And here's to me with the changing. Yay me._

Looking around the bus, Buffy noticed that at least this time there didn't seem to be any girls handcuffed to any of the bus seats. Seemed like they were finally accepting the fact that they were headed to Happy-land. The three hour drive had been hell, and Buffy just wanted to eat something, take a quick shower, crawl under the covers of her bed and rest for days, and forget this day ever happened. Hell, that year! Being in a bus for three long hours, full of uncontrolled teenage girls, yelling at the supervisors that had accompanied them in the bus, did take its toll on her. Some had even been wildly grasping at the bus' window bars like a bunch of monkeys, yelling to the streets they were passing by for anyone to "Help us!"… At least said girls had the decency to throw in a plural. Thankfully, there was just so much their vocal cords could take, so after an hour drive, they had finally subdued on the yelling and spouting already repeated profanities.

An hour or two too-long later, they finally arrived, and three other buses that hadn't been in their station were already parked there. Sardonic Woman's car, that the two buses had been following, stopped shortly beside the other three.

Outside, Buffy could make out on the high hills a few rooftops and a trail leading to them. Great, hiking! The supervisors stepped out first, while all the girls inside started to stand up and pick up their bags, making their way towards the front of the bus. Buffy stayed a few seconds in her seat, her head coming back to rest against the window, hoping against hope that she would somehow wake up from this nightmare.

Letting out a defeated sigh, she finally stood up, sliding her backpack on one shoulder, and was one of the last few to step out of the bus.

Apparently, hiking it was! The girls were all heading towards those not-so-ever appealing hills, they too seeming all too exhausted of that morning's occurrences for that.

Buffy put on the other lace of her backpack on her other shoulder, already feeling like her legs were about to give out. She just wanted to rest already.

It took about fifteen minutes of hiking before finally arriving at their 'glorious' facility.

Up ahead seemed to be a trail leading to more hills and apparently more hiking to be made, and Buffy hoped that that was leading to where the supervisors/Sardonic Woman/shitheads were staying and not them. She was spent! No more sitting in a stinky bus, no more spending more than an hour standing up with a heavy backpack on her back, no more climbing these annoying hills. No more! And it wasn't even getting dark yet!

"As I had explained before," said Sardonic Woman that had been leading the pack, trying to get every girls' attention. "As I had explained before," she repeated herself, this time louder with an edge to her voice, subduing on the noise till everyone was waiting for her to continue. "Up ahead," she said, pointing to the Hills of Doom, "is the red area. Those assigned to the red area will meet their Head Supervisor there. Those to the blue," she pointed below to her right, and Buffy hadn't noticed but behind a few trees was a similar trail, leading to an area that stood below. "And those to the yellow, here. You are not, and I emphasize, not to leave the area you'll be assigned to. I'm sure breaking rules was the only thing you girls were capable of doing properly, but there willl be consequences now for those who break any rules. Your Head Supervisor, though, is the one who will go through the rules and regulations."

Woman of Sarcasm went over to speak to one of the supervisors that was holding a clipboard, appearing very impatient and glaring in the direction of the 'blue area'. A few seconds later, about fifty girls were hiking up from that area, all seeming just as exhausted as the group that was already up there.

Sardonic Woman marched towards a woman that had her hair pulled back in a ponytail in a brown cap and with an erect posture, who was leading the group, and this one replied shortly as she walked past her, "I was showing them the area", in which her response only seemed to fuse Sardonic Woman more. The new arrivals started to approach them, as a couple of "gather around"'s was followed by one of the supervisors that had come with them. There were a few minutes of clamor, until silence once again took place.

"Yes, well..." the supervisor who had been holding the clipboard approached the now larger group of girls, diffidently waiting for everyone's attention, "as Ms. G. Marge very well enlightened you young women of the three areas regulations, and I presume the rest that has joined us has already been informed as well, erm, I shall then call out your names and you must raise your hand when your name is spoken." Buffy noticed a couple eye rolls and a few groans . "Ahem, yes... ah, Alicia Stilvania."

Buffy waited patiently for her name to follow the alphabetically-ordered list. After five other names, her name was called and she raised her hand as requested. A few snickers ensued and some girls turned their heads to see the holder of the name. Buffy ignored them, as the name calling carried on.

At last when an end came to that, the supervisor pronounced that they'd now be divided in the 'color area' groups. Hurray...

_Please, me not be in the Red Hills of Doom. So, so tired!_

The first group that was assigned to the blue area started heading towards the trees, where the area stood below, with one of the supervisors leading them and giving a couple of instructions. Buffy moved out of the way and went closer to the supervisor who was now reading the names of the yellow area.

The woman read aloud the last name, before turning towards the remaining girls that still stood there, as the new group of girls that belonged to the yellow area were now approaching another supervisor. "The rest of you are naturally assigned to the red area. We'll be going there shortly." No! What? Did someone out there seriously hate her?

Buffy looked up, frowning at those unappealing hills. She let out a small groan. So not fair!

Their supervisor who had left shortly, returned bringing with her a small handy-bag. "I want you ladies to make a line, so as to we can manage this all right. And I ask that we do not deviate from the trail, as it's there for a reason."

A few minutes later, Buffy breathed deeply upon arriving those hills, and as she exhaled, she felt somewhat ready for what was to come. She nodded briefly to herself, and for the first time that year, she seemed to accept something - this that occurred in her life without her consent that she hoped to learn from. She'd go through this and she'd come out in the end different, somehow, of that she was sure, she felt it. She hoped this was truly the start of her changing path.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

The silence surrounding Buffy was soon fading to small groans and murmurs. But when their Head Supervisor appeared, it brought an end to the brief noise that had initiated.

Her HS was the woman that had been leading the other group of girls from the blue area when they first arrived, and she seemed to be an athletic woman in her mid thirties, wearing brown shorts with a white tank top tucked in them. She stared at the girls briefly before looking down at the clipboard she had in her hands. Her posture was serious, her face somber.

"I'm Samantha Hoppins and I'll be your new HS in this area," she introduced herself briefly. "G. Marge must have filled you in, stating that each of you will be arranged with a partner in your respective dormitory." She spoke in a calm tone, not disappointing her solemn demeanor for a second. "She mustn't have gotten further into the topic, so allow me to elaborate. The weeks you'll be spending here in the facility will be evaluated based on three things: your behavior, your behavior with your partner and with your group as a team, and your duties, which we'll be getting further into that last part later. But right now the only thing I need you girls to understand is the gravity of this evaluation we'll be conducting. Breaking rules will make you lose... let's say, _points_. And these will be, by the end of our system, counted, and if, by then, you don't have a certain amount of _points_ according to our regulations, well, that could become a real problem.

You see, our temporary establishment's aim is to make you girls aware of the consequences of your actions, and readapt your behavior from a social point of view. Our aim is to reduce or possibly annihilate recidivism. However, we are aware that we may not reach our goal within the few weeks we'll have at our disposal. So that's when the evaluation comes in play."

Buffy wasn't quite sure where her HS was aiming her introductory speech, but she felt uneasy about where this was headed; she slightly missed Sardonic Woman's briefness. Her HS resumed speaking,

"Our facility works in partnership with a Therapeutic Boarding School, a highly instructed and traditional all girls school, called the Helena Academy. Your parents or legal guardians when signing you in to our system agreed to a contract that allows us to evaluate you girls according to our program, and if such expectations aren't met, then that means you'll automatically enroll in the Helena Academy's next semester."

Buffy felt a slight wave of dizziness overcome her as it took a minute for the news to sink in. Her lips were dry and she felt dehydrated. Soon the silence was filled by a loud uproar, as the girls around her seemed just as shocked as she was by the news that had just assaulted them. The initiate state of shock and gasps turned to anger as the area was filled by affronted voices. But Buffy didn't acknowledge what any of them were saying, the only thought going through her mind was of how unbelievable that was. It was mind-boggling how her mother could have been so deceiving to her! How she could have kept this from her, or, more importantly, how she could have signed a paper authorizing her to be sent to a fucking boarding school for fucked up girls!

Her Head Supervisor seemed to be used to that sort of reaction, and simply observed them for a while. When she thought that they had whined enough, she stepped forward, trying to resume the silence.

"I'll begin calling out your names with your respective partners," she stated loudly, as apparently the previous topic seemed dead to her by now. "When I call out the two names at a time, I ask that you both step forward and direct yourselves to our refectory down that way," she pointed back to a large rectangular cabin with its double-doors open, "and take a seat at one of the tables."

The news was still sinking in as Buffy waited impatiently for her name to be called. The girls around her all seemed as upset as her, and she realized that perhaps the parents had been coaxed by the facility to not tell them about the whole boarding school issue. That would make sense, as she would have been way less collaborative about her going to this freak of a camp if she knew that somehow they were planning to throw her in an all girls boarding school if she didn't by the end of the system "score enough _points_". She still couldn't help but feel betrayed by her mother's actions.

"Barbara Campins and Jessica Scott," her HS waited a few seconds for the two girls to step forward and make their way toward the refectory, before calling out, "Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane."

Buffy seemed to snap out of her thoughts, as she hadn't expected her name to be called so soon. She stepped forward, feeling the dizziness -due to that day's event and the lack of food and water- overcome her again. She looked briefly to her side to see her partner come forward as well.

The brunette girl that stepped forward was wearing a white wife-beater and a black pair of jeans, adorned with man-ish boots. She had a black air jet rucksack thrown over her shoulder, as a tribal sort of tattoo laid out on her right upper arm. Her face was slightly hidden behind her long wavy hair.

Buffy glanced at her for a few seconds, before quickly turning and heading to the refectory. She didn't want to feed prejudice, but she hoped looks could truly be deceiving, 'cause that girl seriously looked like she belonged in this place.

Upon arriving there, there were a dozen or so cafeteria tables spread throughout the dining hall. Buffy took a seat in the nearest one, finally relieving her sore shoulders of the weigh of her backpack, as she laid it on the ground near her feet. When her partner arrived not a minute later, Buffy didn't look at her as it took her a moment to sit in the table across from Buffy's.

Slowly, the refectory got crowed and soon was swarming with loud girls. In her 'red area' zone, there were at least thirty of them.

Buffy was feeling spent from that day's events, she desperately wanted to eat something and rest. But apparently there was still much ahead of that dreadful day. Feeling defeated, she laid her head on her crossed arms on top of the table, and waited.

Finally, her HS stepped into the dining hall. The noise seemed to subdue while her presence was being noted. Buffy raised her head slowly, feeling drained. Her HS waited patiently and with equal seriousness from before, as she looked around the room.

"You girls must be hungry," she checked her clock, "it's already past five o'clock. We have our schedules for meals, and for most of our activities. Our agenda is very strict. We're to get up at six AM sharp every morning, with the exceptions to weekends, where you'll be allowed to sleep until eight AM. On Sundays, depending on your behavior, you'll also be allowed to make one phone call to your family."

Buffy groaned inwardly. _Six AM? She's got to be joking._

"You girls have three meals a day. So let's finish up here, and after each of you get arranged in your cabins, we'll be returning here for the six PM meal."

The Head Supervisor turned around to speak to a woman dressed in a white shirt with an enormous red circle to her left chest, tugged in a pair of ugly brown fatigue pants. The HS nodded briefly before turning back to the girls, while said woman walked through a back door to the far corner of the refectory.

"Each of you will receive a bag containing a pair of clean sheets and seven pairs of our facility's clothing. Starting tomorrow, these are to be worn whenever you step foot out of your cabins. On your shirt there's a sign that indicates the color of your area, so that prevents anyone from wandering around. As for laundry, we have a cabin with a few set of washing machines. You'll have time to use them during the weekends, as you're to change your bedspreads every Saturday. I do hope I made myself clear, especially when it comes to leaving your cabins without your uniform.

Oh, and one more thing. We assigned each of you with a partner. That means you are not to leave your cabin or any other of our facility's rooms without your partner, that includes going to the lavatory or resuming any other of our activities. Meaning your partner's tardiness is your tardiness. This way, you'll learn to worry about someone else's welfare, so giving out a helpful hand would be a good advice."

_Great! Just what I needed to make my day even peachier, a Siamese twin. _

When Buffy's HS finished talking she looked around patiently. When there didn't seem to be any questions, she instructed for the table nearest to the door where that woman had gone into, to form a line and head that way.

After a few girls started to head to the exit of the refectory with both their bags each, a couple of supervisors were standing by the refectory's double doors, one guided the first group of girls to presumably their new cabins. The next table was instructed to stand and head to the door.

For the first time upon entering the refectory, Buffy looked up to look at her partner. But her partner was nowhere to be seen.

Buffy's table was the next one ordered to form a line and head to the door on the far corner. Buffy slowly got her backpack from the ground and put one lace across her shoulder.

Upon entering the back room, it looked like a long corridor, filled with brown bags on shelves and some spread on the ground. There were two women giving out the brown bags, and when one of them called Buffy she asked her name then went about to get her bag. Buffy was soon handed a brown and slightly worn-out bag with the huge initials "23" painted white across it.

As Buffy exited the double-doors to the refectory, she looked ahead to the horizon, and the sun was starting to set, giving her a nice view of the sunset from above the hills where they stood.

She followed the dirt path and the few girls heading to an area filled with very small wooden cabins. Some were already dimly lit, with their doors open and the girls settling in; upon approaching them, Buffy noticed on the few doors that were still closed, two digits painted white on each door.

Buffy figured she'd better find cabin '23'.

She found her number to a door ajar, with the cabin's lights already on. Apparently, her partner hadn't been listening when their HS said they were supposed to stay glued to one another.

Buffy pushed past the door with one of her bags to find a surprisingly shitty cabin, its size looking even smaller from the inside. There were two twin beds on either side of the door, each one scooted against the cabin's woody walls. The space separating them was only enough to fit an end table and its weary lamp on top of it, with a minuscular window above it. To the end of each bed there was a spent wooden drawer placed against them.

Buffy finally came into view with her partner, who was already sprawled on one of the beds, lying with her hands behind her head.

For the first time, she had a nice view of the other girl's face, and Buffy was slightly surprised by how young she looked. Her face had a keen way of contradicting her posture and clothes: whereas the latter showed a coarse girl with a tough attitude, the former showed a young girl with but soft features.

They stared at each other for a split second, before Buffy quickly looked away, and busied herself placing one of her bags atop of the drawer near the empty bed and the other one close to the drawer on the floor. Her partner hadn't gone through the same trouble, and had simply disposed her bags on the small space between the beds.

Buffy felt slightly awkward, she couldn't remember the other girl's name and she didn't know if she should introduce herself and stand the chance of being ignored; or not, and come off as rude. She scoffed internally. _Rude?_ As if. Considering the place she was, that'd be sign of politeness.

Munching over her bitterness, Buffy dodged the bags on the ground and sat in a heap on her new bed. Feeling absentmindedly the bed sheets with her hands, she noticed how crispy they felt, completely different from the ones from her room back home. _Home? Yeah right. _Buffy scoffed again, this time audibly. After what her mother had done to her, it felt hard to consider back there _home_. Home is where you should be able to feel accepted and secure.

"Hey," Buffy was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a hoarse voice from across her. She raised her head and stared into the other girl's face.

The girl was now sitting on the edge of her bed, and oddly enough, she had a small smirk forming on her lips.

"It's Britney, right?"

Buffy refrained from raising a brow. She figured she'd better start off on the right foot,

"It's Buffy, actually."

"Right," her partner said dismissively. She seemed to be taking in every feature of Buffy's face, and Buffy suddenly felt slightly self-conscious.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name back then."

"Faith," she responded shortly, apparently not in the mood to talk anymore: 'Faith' suddenly kneeled down and started rummaging through her black bag.

Feeling awkward by staring at the girl while she was kneeling so close to her on the floor, Buffy got up hastily and went to occupy herself with her new drawer, opening and closing the first couple of raddled drawers.

Just then she heard outside a voice approaching, announcing that they should all head back to the refectory for their meal.

_Finally. _She was starved.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

The refectory was slowly filling up with the girls coming from the cabins when Buffy entered it, followed shortly by her partner. She didn't wait to see if her partner was going to join her, and took a seat in the nearest table by the door. Apparently, her partner didn't feel like it was necessary to join her and sat at another table.

When the refectory was full with all the girls belonging to the red area, Buffy's HS arrived from the main double doors. Gradually she brought an end to the chatter that had been going on.

"Well, since today is your first day, you girls are allowed to have dinner without your uniforms. But first thing tomorrow, no one's to step foot outside of their cabin without our area's uniform.

"The first table, by the door. You girls may stand up and grab a tray."

_Yay! That's my table. _

Buffy and the girls sitting at her table stood up and each one grabbed a tray, slowly forming a line. The first woman, wearing a hygienic cap, was standing on the other side serving the dishes and served them a handful of peas, the next one dropped on their tray something yellow-ish that looked like smashed potatoes and the third woman put on their tray a medium-sized beef. Considering Buffy's state, the food on her tray looked rather appetizing.

At the end of the line, Buffy grabbed the utensils, that consisted of a fork and knife made of plastic. _How v__ery prison-y. _And there were also fruit juice boxes. The only flavor available was mango juice. Wrinkling her nose, she picked one up.

When all the girls from Buffy's table were seated once more at their table, the next table next to theirs was ordered to stand and grab a tray.

Picking up the plastic cutlery, Buffy dig in to her meal, and surprisingly enough, it tasted rather good. Relieved that at least something seemed reasonable enough in this place, Buffy ate silently without taking her eyes from her food.

Upon finishing, the girls from her table started picking up their trays and taking them to a small window on a wall, that probably led to the kitchen on the other side. Leaving her tray there, Buffy finally realized that she had been the only one sitting at her table without her partner, because she noticed that every girl exiting the refectory was accompanied by another girl.

She scanned the place for signs of her partner, but the girl didn't seem to be anywhere around.

Deciding she should try to make a stealthy exit, she looked around for any sign of her HS, and quickly made the exit for the double doors.

Buffy was almost nearing the path to the cabins when someone shouted behind her:

"You. Stop right there."

Turning around, she came face to face with her HS.

"Where is your partner?"

"Hmm, we sort of got split up."

"Got split up? Did you not listen to me when I said you are to go nowhere, and that means absolutely nowhere, without your partner?"

"Yes, I did, but -"

"What's your name?"

"Buffy Summers."

The woman in front of her pulled out a small paper pad out of her pocket and scribbled something onto it.

"What's your cabin's designated number?"

"Twenty-three."

Without saying as much as another word, the woman marched in front of her and Buffy followed quickly behind.

Upon reaching her cabin, Buffy's HS opened the door and stepped inside. Buffy couldn't fit through while her HS stood there on the door frame, so she stayed outside and tried to look through the gaps to see if her partner was inside. Surely enough, she was, and just as before, lying with her hands behind her head.

"You," her HS pointed at the girl, "stand up. Now!"

Her partner stood up slowly.

"You, Buffy," her HS turned around and addressed her, "step in here."

Buffy entered swiftly, and stood in the middle of the room, next to her partner. There wasn't nearly any space for both of them to stand between the two beds and her partner's bags sprawled out on the floor.

"You girls think this is a joke? We haven't even begun our first day in our facility and you're already looking for trouble? What part of you're to go nowhere unaccompanied by your partner did you not understand? I wasn't joking when I said that you'll be evaluated by points you'll acquire or lose during the weeks you'll be spending here. I do hope you two are willing to make it up for the points you just lost on your first night here, because you two just began at the back of the list, and that's a really good start if Helena Academy is what you're aiming for. And trust me, every semester we enroll new girls at the Academy."

When did her HS ever seem so menacing before? Buffy swallowed and said nothing.

"What's your name?" Her HS was looking at her partner.

Buffy gave a quick glance at her partner as the other girl answered simply: "Faith."

"Faith what?"

"Lehane."

Again, her HS took out her paper pad and scribbled something onto it.

"You are to step nowhere within this facility without your partner," she said this last part deliberately slow. "Are we clear?"

"I'm clear. Don't you feel clear?" She looked back at Faith, "We're very clear."

Faith glanced at Buffy and if Buffy wasn't mistaken, there was a shadow of a smirk forming on the outlines of her lips.

"We're five by five."

"Good. Lights go off at ten P.M."

And without another word, their HS left their cabin, closing the door behind her.

Buffy signed audibly. Why did these things always seem to happen to her? It wasn't her fault that she was assigned to someone who seriously needed a reality check on their whole rebellious attitude. As if she didn't have enough things to worry about, now she had to stick like glue to this girl 24/7 during her stay in this freak show of a camp.

Munching over her self-pity, Buffy went over towards her backpack without glancing back at her partner, and rummaged through it looking for her toiletry bag. She placed it on top of her wooden drawer, and picked up the brown bag with the uniforms. She didn't feel like organizing her stuff inside the drawers, but for lack of a better thing to do and to busy herself, she started retrieving those ugly white shirts with the red circle on the left breast and placing them on the second drawer; on the third drawer she placed those horrendous browns shorts, coming to the conclusion that along with everything else this facility lacked, fashion was also among them.

The extra bedsheets and a towel that also came in the bag, Buffy placed them in the last drawer. Not being in the mood to empty her own backpack out, Buffy went over to her bed, taking care not to step on her partner's bags that were still laid out between the two twin beds.

She took a seat on her bed and laid down, keeping her feet and legs out of the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

These weeks were definitely going to take forever to end.

Buffy couldn't tell how long she remained that way staring at the ceiling, but suddenly she felt the urge to pee.

Sitting up on her bed, she looked at her partner, who was lying with one hand behind her back, the other one laid out on her stomach, with her feet crossed, still clad in those man-ish boots, and her eyes closed.

Buffy sighed. She was really going to hate this place. "I think we should probably head to the lavatory before it gets too late."

She thought her partner could have been asleep due to her lack of response, but then she simply said with her eyes still closed, "Yeah, sure."

Buffy got up and went over to her drawer, picking up her toiletry bag.

Her partner sat up on her bed and stretched out. Crouching between the two beds, she got out a small black bag from her airjet rucksack. She stood up and they stared at one another for a second.

"Lead the way, blondie."

Turning around, Buffy stepped out of their cabin; once outside, she realized that she didn't know exactly where the lavatory was.

Since the refectory was to their left, she decided that the lavatory was probably to their right. Satisfied with her reasoning, Buffy led them to their right.

A little far off the cabins, there was indeed a path that led to a square building, and Buffy hoped that that was the place. Pushing the door open, Buffy was relieved to find a dozen or so sinks on both sides of the walls facing each other, with a small mirror above each sink. One of the walls was separating the sinks from the other compartment of the bathroom, where Buffy guessed were probably the toilets and the showers.

Without glancing back at her partner, she headed straight to the other side of the bathroom, past the wall, and found the toilet stalls as well as the showers. Each shower was separated by a wall about shoulder height and each one was secluded by a thin curtain shower.

Buffy locked herself in one of the stalls. When she got out, she realized how desperate she was to take a shower, but she hadn't brought any of her bath amenities with her or a towel, and she doubted her partner would be willing to go back to the cabin with her so she could grab her stuff and then come back to the bathroom just so she could shower.

She went to the other side of the bathroom where the sinks were located to freshen up. Some other girls were brushing their teeth and washing their faces. On the other wall between the sinks there was a long wooden bench pushed against it, and her partner was sitting on it... smoking a cigarette.

Buffy stared at her for a second and then went to a sink, washed her hands and started to brush her teeth. Buffy was trying to concentrate on her reflection on the mirror while brushing her teeth, but she could only think about that awful cigarette smell. Was it even allowed to smoke in this camp? What if it wasn't? What if they lost more points if someone saw them? Surely she wouldn't lose points, as well, would she? I mean, she couldn't very well control her partner or be accountable for her nasty habits.

After washing her face, she dried it off on a small face towel she had in her bag.

Once she was finished, she headed for her partner, "Should we head back to the cabin?"

Her partner looked up at her, flicked her cigarette to the ground, got up and stepped on it. Smiling sweetly, she said: "You're in charge, Betty."

Buffy didn't like the girl's attitude. First, she used nicknames to refer to her, and then she kept missing her name. But she wanted to get this whole facility thing over with without getting into any trouble, especially not with the girl she'd have to share all her waking and sleeping moments with in this godforsaken place.

Choosing to ignore her remark, Buffy turned around and headed for the door. They made their way back to their cabin in silence. Once they got inside, her partner sat on her bed and started unlacing her boots.

Buffy knelt down and rummaged through her backpack in search of her pajamas, that consisted of a matching pair of lace shirt and a short shorts. Considering the warm weather, those were the only ones she thought of bringing.

Being concealed by her drawer from the waist down, Buffy quickly stepped out of her shoes, lowered her jeans, kicked them off and pulled up her pajama shorts, that had cute shaped cats all over them.

Once her partner unlaced her boots, she kicked them off and left them there between the two beds, along with her bags. She got up and unbuttoned her black jeans, lowering them down. Buffy turned her back to her and stared at the wooden walls of her cabin.

Buffy had showered before and changed clothes in front of other girls in the locker room after gym class. They had individual showers back at her School, and of course she never stared at any of the girls while they changed, but still, she never felt embarrassed before.

Keeping her back turned to her partner, Buffy pulled off her top and pulled on her pajama lace shirt that had the same cats stamped all over it.

When Buffy turned around, her partner was sitting on the edge of her bed, going through her stuff in one of her bags. She still had on her white wife-beater, and had put on some dark-blue, baggy boxer shorts.

Stepping over the bags and the boots thrown on the floor, Buffy reached her bed and sat down. It felt ungainly when both of them sat on the edge of their beds, because the space between the beds was really narrow.

Buffy hadn't realized she had been observing her partner rummage through her stuff until the other girl looked up, cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Love the pussies."

Buffy frowned and took a moment to realize what she was referring to. She glanced down at her pajamas and then looked back at the girl.

"Love the male underwear," Buffy replied.

Her partner laughed.

"Yeah? I'll let you borrow it one of these days."

Buffy scoffed. "Right."

Deciding those five seconds of awkward conversation was more than enough to last her a lifetime, Buffy lied down on her side with her back turned to her partner and closed her eyes.

After closing her eyes, she realized just how tired she felt; how excruciatingly long and endless this day had felt like; and how she could only imagine what else this place had in store for her.

She was already sound asleep when the lights went off automatically at ten PM.


End file.
